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The 2018 Interview Series Featuring Thom Reese

On a side note, though the initial response was gratifying, I find myself running out of interview subjects by the end of September. If you haven’t been interviewed, or even if you have and you have a new release coming out, please feel free to contact me to be interviewed at don@donmassenzio.com. I will send you the information and get you scheduled.

Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?

Wow. Interesting question. I try to write what I would enjoy reading with the assumption – hope – that others will enjoy the same type of stories. I do try to be original in my concepts while still brining an element of familiarity to my work. I’m currently working on the final book in a Dracula series and obviously that concept is not original to me, though I do try to bring some of my own ideas and interpretations to the project. My novel The Empty is the one with a concept that I feel is most original to me.

If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

I wish I had become serious about my writing a couple of decades earlier. It was a different publishing environment then and I think it would have been a better fit for me.

What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?

Wow. So many to pick from! It’s hard to call any Stephen King novel under-appreciated, but 11-22-63 has flown pretty much under the radar and that’s an amazing novel, one of his best really. But let’s go with a lesser known author. Already Dead by Charlie Huston is a fun quirky vampire novel that no one seems to know about.

Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?

I read them. Most are good, so that’s a plus. But the occasional negative review is part of the deal. Whenever an author releases work to the public, there’s the risk – or even expectation – that it won’t be well received by everyone. It’s never fun. It stings, but I try to set it aside and look forward.

Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?

Not as a rule. I might have thrown in a phrase or two that are a bit of an inside joke, but I really don’t look to do that much. My goal is more to get into the reality that I’ve created and not to give cause for the reader to break with that reality.

Do you Google yourself?

Not often. But yes.

What is your favorite childhood book?

From my own childhood, probably Charlotte’s Web. Or, weirdly enough, Jane Goodall’s In the Shadow of Man. As far as more recent children’s books, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman is a true gem.

If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?

Get focused. I had my hands in far too many things. And maybe that was part of the process in determining that I wanted to write. But I wish I had just gone after it much sooner.

How long on average does it take you to write a book?

In most cases it’s about a six month process, but it does vary considerably.

About Thom:

Thom Reese is the author of the novels, THE INFUSION OF ARCHIE LAMBERT, A SAVAGE DISTANCE, THE DRACULA JOURNALS: DARK DECADE, THE DRACULA JOURNALS: RAVAGED SOULS, THE DEMON BAQASH, DEAD MAN’S FIRE, CHASING KELVIN, and THE EMPTY, along with the short story collection, 13 BODIES: SEVEN TALES OF MURDER & MADNESS. Thom was the sole writer and co-producer of the weekly audio drama radio program, 21ST CENTURY AUDIO THEATRE. Several of Thom’s audio dramas have been published on CD and MP3 formats. A native of the Chicago area, Thom currently makes his home with his wife in Las Vegas, Nevada.

I don’t subscribe to Hulu, so I didn’t know that. I’d be sorry to have missed it, but it doesn’t sound like I missed much. I’ve been watching King’s Mr. Mercedes series. Last season was pretty good, but this year they’ve gone into the supernatural, and it’s just not as compelling. Probably should have stopped at the end of season one.

I haven’t watched Mr. Mercedes, but thoroughly enjoyed the first two books in the series as SK delved into the detective genre and did it well. The third book went back to supernatural as a crutch. I was disappointed.